I had responded to Vickie's last post with comments on "categorizing Leonard's music," but after I thought I posted it, it disappeared. Really no need to try to recreate it, the conclusion, after many words, was that one cannot categorize his music.

I stumbled across youtube videos of Leonard's October 3, 2012 Barcelona concert, or at least a good part of it. Because Vickie never had a chance to see Leonard live, I thought she might want to view it all or in part, because it really shows things from a viewer's perspective, especially a viewer seated in row ten or so in front of Javier. I know this, because we were at that concert, and that is where we were seated. (This concert was mentioned in my September 10 post on this thread as Flashback #4.)

The link I will provide is for Part I, and at the end it automatically goes to Part III (Part II was evidently lost). What I find interesting is that the video concentrates on what I was focusing on at the concert, mostly Leonard of course, and also Javier and Sharon and the Webb sisters because they were the performers most visible from our vantage point. The person who recorded the video must have been seated several rows in front of us. The video is a little jumpy at times as he changes directions and focus, and sometimes he did not start recording until a little after a song had begun. But all in all, he did an admirable job, I wonder how much one can actually enjoy a concert if they are recording it?

Some things to look for: Leonard seems a little tired and subdued at the start, but gradually becomes his old self. Javier is from near Barcelona, he seems to enjoy playing for the hometown crowd. Surprises from the Webb sisters, they take over some lines that Leonard normally sings. And of course, the monkey scene in "First We Take Manhattan."

Several times in the video the camera pans to the area we were seated, but he avoided showing us (maybe for the best). The women with the roses were right in front of us. And no, I was not the audience member you hear singing the "Marianne" chorus with vigor.

Hello again!
We have been busy getting our house ready to put on the market, and we also went to Montana to visit my nephew. I finally have time to respond!

I wish you had not lost what you wrote about categorizing Leonards music. I will bet it would be worth reading. It's something that I think of often. His music has so many elements of various genres. Of course there's folk-rock, soft rock, blues, jazz, country, pop, rock, etc. and on and on. Some of the most beautiful compositions are classical in style to me. I was just thinking that when I was listening to the opening notes of The Window on my way to work today. We have lost such an amazing guy. It seems impossible that he was allowed to go. What was G-d thinking?... "I can just make another one."??

Thank you for sharing the videos from Barcelona. I have been watching them on my lunch hour at work in bits and pieces.

As for Darker, you said that Steer Your Way is your favorite song on that album, but you didn't say why. I honestly cannot pick a clear favorite from that last album. I love the title track, I love Treaty, I love On the Level, l love It Seemed the Better Way, and I love Steer Your Way. So I would like to hear why you picked that one. I'm curious if others have a favorite from that album, what it is, and why.

What immediately drew me to "Steer Your Way" was the music, not the lyrics. Actually this has been the case many times in the past with his other songs; Leonard is most known for his carefully-crafted lyrics, but his ability to come up with tunes to wed them with is often also amazing. I particularly like the use of the violin, especially in the haunting "year-by-year, month-by-month, day-by-day, thought-by-thought" refrain.

But as I listened to "Steer Your Way" more, my fondness of--or more precisely, my fascination with--the song developed into something much deeper and personally painful.

"Steer your way past the RUINS of the altar and the mall."

"Steer your way through the FABLE of creation and the fall."

"Steer your way past the palaces that rise above the ROT."

"Steer your heart past the truths THAT YOU BELIEVED IN YESTERDAY, such as fundamental goodness and the wisdom of the way."

"Steer your way through the PAIN that is far more real than you, that SMASHED THE COSMIC MODEL, that BLINDED EVERY VIEW."

"And PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME GO THERE..."

"They whisper still, the ancient stones, the blunted mountains WEEP."

"Let us die to make things CHEAP."

All of these lines, and others, speak to the u-turn that has been made in the advance of civilization, the decisions to discard beliefs, traditions, and institutions because they were not perfect, and to replace them with self-absorption, and with accelerating chaos.

No one can know what Leonard was thinking when he wrote these lyrics, and I dare not put words in his mouth, but the lyrics really hit home with me. Time may prove me wrong, but I will go to my death bed believing that I was profoundly fortunate to live at least part of my life at a time when brotherhood-of-man and quality-of-life were still advancing, and with the knowledge that, by inaction, I was partly responsible for what came after.